Despite leaving on stretcher, Erick Silva cleared in post-UFC Fight Night 40 exam

CINCINNATI – After a grueling fight in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 40 main event, Erick Silva was carted out of the arena and sent to a hospital, unable to attend the post-fight press conference.

The Brazilian nearly posted an early victory at Cincinnati’s U.S. Bank Arena, but fellow welterweight Matt Brown (19-11 MMA, 12-5 UFC) rallied to defeat Silva (16-5 MMA, 4-4 UFC) via third-round TKO in a “Fight of the Year” contender (watch the Brown vs. Silva video highlights).

Ohio native Brown’s victory in the FOX Sports 1-televised main event left the crowd in an excited state, but soon after the night-ending bout, jubilation soon turned to concern as Silva lay motionless on the canvas.

While much of the crowd filtered out and headed home, a number of cageside fans stuck around to check on the status of Silva, who was strapped to a backboard and loaded into an ambulance. Sherdog executive editor Greg Savage snapped an image of the scene.

Hopefully this only precautionary. Silva took a lot of damage. http://t.co/SMyCLvWzNP—
Greg Savage (@TheSavageTruth) May 11, 2014

In the night’s post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White said Silva would be a no-show and had been transported to a local hospital. Cageside officials were concerned about a possible concussion and fractured jaw, White said.

However, this morning, White said the Brazilian got some good news.

Erick Silva came back with a clean bill of health and can fly home 2 morrow!!! :)—
Dana White (@danawhite) May 11, 2014

With the defeat, Silva again failed to post back-to-back wins during his eight-fight UFC career. However, the fighter received high praise from both White and Brown.

“I can’t say nothing but good things about him,” Brown said. “It was a pretty amazing performance on his part too, at least in terms of catching me cold and putting me down and being able to withstand more punishment than anyone’s withstood from me before.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 40, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.